Iraq's cabinet approves $927 million for key power projects

Iraq's cabinet approved $927 million in financing for electricity generation projects on Sunday in a move by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government to defuse simmering public anger over chronic power outages.
The funds cleared by the cabinet followed a complaint by Electricty Minister Raad Shallal that his ministry had not been allocated enough financing to tackle what is one of the biggest complaints of ordinary Iraqis. More than eight years after the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein and triggered years of war and sectarian conflict, Iraqis are only receiving a few hours of power a day from the national electricity grid even though the country has some of the world's biggest oil reserves.